what was i thinking??

i was talking with a friend of mine the other night, and told her i was ready to have a kid, didn't matter if i had the woman or not (not saying it wouldn't be nice though!!). now, after spending the entire day, which started at 6:30am, with my young charge, i think i need to reconside. it's the old pearl of wisdom that says you don't realize how hard it is until you have to it yourself. i'm not talking so much about being part of a two person team (which i'm sure is very too), but being a single person, a single parent. there is no break - you have those few hours at night before you go to bed, but that's it. what i'm trying to say is kudos to the single parent - my hat is off to you - i'm exhausted after one day. . . oh man, i've got two more to do. . . :)

went on a great adventure today with my little buddy - we went geocaching, which is a scavenger hunt of sorts using a handheld gps, and it takes to you to cool little spots you would otherwise not know about. today we headed out to marin to alpine lake and hiked up the cataract trail, which had great little waterfalls and pools, and a serious view. it was a 3 mile roundtrip hike - the uphill part was first, thank god, and we had a pretty good time.

the rest of the day consited of being lazy, which was great for both of us. now is my quiet time - got invited celebrate with a friend who just finished taking the bar exam and wanted me to come out, but alas, i can not - damn these temporary replacement single parent duties!!

where are you?

i went out to dinner last night with my friend lauren - we ate at quetzal, which i hadn't been to in a while, and forgot how good it is - i had a really good smoked salmon salad and lauren had a vege burger (she has just decided to be a vegetarian. . .) which she sucked down, so i figure it must have been good. we got to talking and decided it's time for me to find a new mate - so we started making a list and figured out that any girl i am even slightly interested is in a relationship, just got out of one, or we've already dated, and i only need to touch the stove once to know that it burns!! :) so then we decided to just fiugure out what kind of girl she needs to be, and what we came up with is that she need's to enjoy waking up at ten on saturday morning, hangover and all, and watching mystery science 3000 in bed. i figure if she can do that, everything else will fall into place - am i asking for to much??

had another day in the city with the kids - wasn't feeling to hot last night or this morning, so spent the first part of the morning watching some movies that were so bad, i refuse to list them. ended up feeling a bit better in the afternoon and headed out to the exploratorium, which is, and has, been one of my favorite places in the city since i was a little kid. it was as fun as always - i go there a couple times of year - need to stay young at heart. everyone needs to go there. . . now! go! go! go!

big storms and baseball

sometimes you forget how much boys like things that blow up and sink and what not. currently they are fascinated by the discovery channels 'storm warning.' and since they are good sf boys, they are also eagerly awaiting the giants game at 5 (as am i). so the rest of the day is smooth sailing.

random observation - is anyone as scared of christopher lowell as i am? i mean for gods sake - not only is he just annoying as hell, but he has the worst decorating taste i have ever seen in the world. apparently he has a massive following - if you are on of them, may god have mercy on your soul. . . :) but of course, everything evens out in the end, because the sci-fi channel has decided it is finally time to start showing 'buck rogers' again - by todays standards of course, it doesn't compete, but as a blast from the past it works, as well as all the glamour shots of erin grey - the first space captain to wear heels.

rally, rally, rally

apparently i can still rally with the best of them - shrug off that hangover and get to work - not as quickly as i used to, but who am i to complain.

the last few days with the kids has been a lot of fun - usually i just have them for 3 hours today - this week it's 9 hours a day - how to fill 9 hours. . .

yesterday we headed out to marin and went to the cheese factory, which is outside of novato - it's a nice little spot - out in the middle of nowhere with a pond and geese and such. it's actually the site of my first childhood memory - getting bit in the ass by a goose - ah memories. the kids wanted nothing to do with the cheese of course, but i picked some up, including their house speciality, schloss, which i remember eating as a kid - it was stinky stuff, and my dad and me were the only ones in the house who would touch it.

we headed out from the cheese factory through pt. reyes station and olema to stintson beach. one of the great things about heading out to the cheese factory is the option of heading back into the city on highway one - it's incredible - not many people realize that most of marin is open coastal space - it's really amazing. we drove through stintson and headed up the mountain, and pulled off a bit of the way up to hike down to this cool little beach with tidepools and rocks to climb on. there is actually a rather large outcropping with a flat face that has already been outfitted by someone for climbing - if anyone is interested, let me know. . . we finally headed back to the city to rest our weary bones.

today has been the complete opposite of yesterdays nature fest. we started out by checking out "bugs!" - an awesome 3-d imax show - it was pretty amazing. then, since we were in the area, we headed over to zeum, which is this cool interactive museum - my favorite part of the visit was getting to make my own clay figures and then animate them - i of course had a pretty poor excuse of man for my clay figure, while the everyone else seemed to master artist - still a blast though. then, as if that wasn't enough, we hit the library - got a few books(i picked up 'the basque history of the world', which i hear is fantastic), ate a bit of lunch, and have now returned to the home base where everyone is doing their own thing - me included. really not a bad day after all. . .

where's the love??

where did the little voice in my head go - you know - the one that keeps you from doing really stupid things - the one that suppossedly becomes wiser as i get older?? last night was one of those times i really could have used that little guy. probably not the wisest idea to decide to have a few drinks at 10pm the evening before i get to entertain a bunch of 8 year olds from 9-6 - where were you when i needed you mr. voice? where's the love. . . and the advil. well, i must go collect my charges - maybe today will turn into movie day. . .

you'd think since i haven't had a chance to post anything for a few days that i have a racous weekend that's been so crazy and off the wall i 've barely had time to breathe. well, not quite. . .

was suppossed to go see reverend horton heat on friday, but everyone i was heading out with were dropping like flies - one was sick, one had a family emergency, etc., etc. i was not in the mood to brave a show solo so i gave my ticket to a friend, and ended up hanging out with my roommate, drinking a bit to much, and watching the giants yet again pull out a victory with a homer in the bottom of the ninth.

saturday morning started out with an early wake up call from lauren, who was sick with strep, so i headed out to whole foods for her and picked up some goodies for her. watched a little mystery science theater with her and headed home, nursing a hangover and now paranoid i was getting sick!! i ended up checking out seabiscuit with the parents - it was agood flick, but not as engaging as i would have hoped.

ended up spending saturday night the same way as friday - watched the ballgame with my roommate - again, drank a bit to much. . .:) my cousin nicola came by, enjoyed an herbal treat, then proceeded to pass out on my couch while we watched the scooby doo movie - ain't life grand??

today i'm actually planning on getting out and about a bit - actually heading out to china beach to meet some folks momentarally (sp?).

by the way - happy birthday to my grandfather who is 89 today - go get 'em gramps!!!!

whoa!!!

i gotta tell you, i was a bit put off when blogger was bought by google, but then i download the new google tool ba and it has this cool 'blog this' button which makes it super easy to post cool stuff you find on the web to your blog - here is my first addition - enjoy. . .

happy birthday barry

i must say there is nothing quite like looking around at 42,000 other people whose chose not to work and instead enjoy a beautiful day at the ballpark. i headed out to the game with my friend gary who was coming from the airport with his girlfriend jen and her mom and younger sister who just got into town. jen ended up getting them bleacher seats and me and gary sat in the upper deck. it was super warm (as my poor red nose can attest) and it was one of the best games i've been to - jen et al ended up joining us for the last few innings, which included barry bonds gunning down a runner trying to score in the top of the 9th while we were tied 2-2 with the hated boys from arizona. barry was then the first batter in the bottom of the ninth, and the first pitch he saw he hit out of the park. we were going apeshit - barry came out of the dugout, did a tipped his hat to the crowd, and was off. did i mention it was barry's birthday today - what a way to do it.

summer is here

ah, the past two days have been foggy and cold - summer is here in san francisco, and not a moment to soon, this sun and warm weather has been to much for me. although today looks like it could be a sunny day, which i will tolerate since i am heading out to the ballyard to see my boys in orange and black beat up on some team from arizona.

was suppossed to go to see the black keys last night at cd, but alas, had some last minute business to attend to and was unable to go. it actually worked out well for all involved - my friend lauren still made it to the show (she was so annoyed with the crowd she didn't even stay to see the headliner), and it gave my friend willo, who is in a battle with a sore throat that will not go away, a good excuse to go home and rest. oh well, next time.

speaking of next time, i'm going to see reverend horton heat on friday at the great american music hall and i'm really excited. they are actually playing tonight thru sunday - maybe i'll see them a couple times - a show not to be missed.

alright, time to start preparing for my afternoon at pac bell park - if you can think of a better way to spend a day, let me know. also for those of you who haven't been to exposed to my favorite columnist by now, check this column out - if this doesn't make you a believer, i don't know what will.

the early bird

me, up before nine - yes, yes, 'tis true, 'tis true. all for a good cause - the installation of digital cable in the house - what could be finer i ask? well, i guess a good merlot and a warm body beside me, but who am i to split hairs. . .

after spending the majority of my day recovering from a nasty little hangover (which consitsted of watching the giants game and doing the sunday corssword), due in no small part to the heavy pouring bartender at the route 101, i went to a "red ginger and egg" festival, which was being held for my 1st cousins son, brandon, which i guess, makes him my 1st cousin once removed - i think. anyway, it is a chinese tradition (my cousins husband is burmese) for baby's who are one month old, and it was held at the tong palace, which was pretty damn good - including deep fried dungeness crab, still in shell, which was one of 12 courses served, the finale being a full fish, head and all - combined with at least a bottle of wine polished off by yours truly, the belly was full and the hangover was sated. besides the great food and introduction to a new tradition, it was great to see some of my family from northern california that i only get to really see for events like these.

returning home, i checked my voice mail and found that my ex-girlfriend julie had called. i really hesitate to call her my 'ex' since she was my friend for years before we dated and have become friends again after breaking up last fall. she just graduated from uf and moved to panama city, florida to work for an environmental company. she had called to tell me she was settled into her apartment and that she had fallen off a mule - which for her, is par for the course - to say she is a bit accident prone would be an understatement. it was great to catch up and hear all about her adventures with the mule, and after an hour of talking, i finally crashed out early so i'd be up for the cable guy today.

speaking of which - it's installed - i'm going to go play with my new toy!!

the morning after

hangover, hangover, hangover - went out with a few folks for drinks at the neighborhood dive bar - got an early start and had a late night - to fuzzy to add anyting ales at this point. . . .oi!!

good, bad, or ugly?

i was screwing around with the digital camera a bit ago, and took a few random pics around the bay area - they are posted here. take a look and tell me what you think. i am but a humble beginner in the world of photography, so be kind. . .

hummmmm baby!!!

nothing like a sunny day at the ballyard, especially when the giants win. it was a beautiful, 70 degree sunny day at pac bell - we had great bleacher seats, and were in the center of all the action. i was there with a couple of kids, which alway makes it that much more fun when they are jumping around and cheering as kids do. . . as i do too. is there anything better than a sunny day at the ball park? watching men play a kids game and loving every minute of it? there was a couple sitting behind me and at one point he says to her, 'is there really anywhere else you'd rather be right now?" her silence spoke volumes.

the cure for what ails me

it always seems that no matter how bad i'm feeling, the one cure all is the ballpark. fresh cut grass, white chalk, the game within the game, the beauty that is baseball. pete rose once said, "i'd walk through hell in a gasoline suit just to play baseball." i went to see the giants play last night at pac bell park and sat with my younger sister and we ate peanuts, and drank sodas, and talked about baseball - it was great.

everytime i go to the ballpark i am reminded of my dad pulling me out of school when i was in 1st grade and taking me to opening day at candlestick because it happened to coincide with my birthday - we ate hot dogs, kept score, and wore our gloves the entire game. it seems that no matter how muddled my relationship with my father is, i always look back at that moment and think fondly of him. my dad is a huge baseball fan and some of the best times we have had together have been combined with baseball - whether it was giants spring training in arizona with he and my grandfather when i was 16 or a AAA game in new orleans for fathers day when i was 21, or any other game i've been to with him. my dad and i have been on rather strenuos terms for a while now for many different reasons - he being in new jersey and me being in san francisco i am sure does not help things.

that poor soul pete rose also said of baseball, "love it hard and it will love you back hard." think the same is true in relationships? maybe me and dad just need to go to a ballgame. . .

give me dsl!!!

i am counting down the days to when my contract for earthlink ends - the dsl service for the past week has just been crap - on again and off again, and nobody seems to be able to tell me why - i can't wait to switch providers - any suggestions?

still feeling a bit under the weather - not full blown sick, but not at 100% - i'm battling something off and i think i am winning the war - hopefully a trip to pac bell park tonight to watch the giants will be a cure all.

by the way - just finished reading metamorphosis by kafka - hadn't read it since college - a must read for all - just read it and you'll understand what i mean.

tunes to live by

so i was checking e-mail and doing my usual late night surfing around the web, checking out what was going on, with the plan being to screw around for a while then write a blog and hit the sack (still feeling a bit under the weather - it's some sore throat thing - ugh). so i'm reading my friend jens site, then cruise over to pitchfork, which is the most kick-ass site for music on the web, then over to patio pundit, and then cruised over to my friend willows site. i was going to write my blog about this band, 'the black keys,' that i've been groovin' to in a big way, and was pscyched to see that she had written a blog about it too!! i worked with willo briefly while freelancing for a company she works for, and we quickly discovered very similiar music tastes - it's always great to make new friends who are diggin' the same tunes you are!!

so anyway, the point of the story is, check out 'the black keys' - they are rockin' my world now - very bluesy and chill and hard at the same time.

well, i must get to bed and try to battle off this throat thing - i'm going to the giants game tomorrow and saturday, have plans to grab some drinks with a few folks at my local watering hole, the route 101, saturday night, then sunday is a party for my cousin in the afternoon and a show sunday night - whew - a lot to - must get better!!!!

on a side note, i was checking google a link to the route 101 bar, and the first thing that came up was info on the awesome mural that graces the back wall. what i didn't realize was that it was by a woman named gradiva who i used to work with at the same placed i worked at with willo - what a small world, actually, what a small city - i love it!!!

something aint' right

not sure what happened, but i have just been feeling like shit today. the day started okay with a nice jog down to crissy field, but on the return trip i felt lke i had been hit by a truck. i made to the store for supplies, then home to a hot shower, which did no good. lauren came by to burn some cd's, which was nice - we always cheer each other up, and i basically lounged in my room all day and we just chatted and gave each other a hard time - what are friends for???

finally i went to work, and just faded from there, until i got home and seemed to enjoy a great second wind, that went away quick, and i've been moping around the house all night - did manage to clean my room and burn some cd's, so the night wasn't a total loss. but now it's late and i'm worn out - this week has been a mentally challenging one, full of way to much drama which i am still trying to comprehend before i can even attempt to write it down - basically it's been one of those weeks that you sit back and think about what the hell you are doing with yourself, who are your true friends, and where is that soul mate everyone is telling you about - couple that together with a few friends making some off-hand comments that cut to the quick, and you are in the 'who am i and what am i doing' tailspin - ugh - i hate that crap.

on a positive note to carry with me to bed, my friend willo took some pictures of the family cat on friday night riding his 'deluxe elevator' as she put it - check them out, they are funny: andre1 and andre2. this cat has a tough life . . .

later dayz. . .

home sweet home??

well, it be late and i need to be getting to bed - my own bed for the first time in ten days. had a 'lovely' drive to the oakland airport around 11pm tonight - picked up the family, brought them back to their home and i am now back in my. . .humble abode. my place isn't that bad, but after staying at the house on the hill for a week and a half, i'm really motivated to go make tons of money to get a place like that!!!

but for now, i'm motivated to get to bed - ta for now.

4th of july pictures...finally

ok, so after screwing around trying to get these posted, i finally have them all posted - they aren't that bad - check them out at http://public.fotki.com/jackbr4/4th_of_july_fun/ - i finally got them optimized, etc. - hope you enjoy!!

scrub away

with last evening drawing to a close a nice little gathering to celebrate bastille day, the requisite bbq on the deck, a dip in the hot tub, and a late night movie with my cousin nickola, my stay as master of the telegraph street house is ending. today is a 'scrub the house' day, and then it is off to the oakland airport (oakland!?) a 11pm to pick up the weary family returning to the mainland. i've talked to them a few times and it seems everyone is having a good time - why wouldn't they be?

after suffering from a pretty nasty hangover on saturday, i manged to bounce back for the rest of the weekend - finally got a charger for my phone from the bastards at sprint, then got the damn thing activated - from the initial breaking of the phone to having a working phone took 8 days - i'm sure glad i have the comfort of knowing the three bucks a month i spend on the equipment replacement plan is really going a long way to help develop prompt and quick service. . .

had another mini-bbq on saturday night with gary and jenn, and ended up having a very early night. sunday here in the city was awesome, and jenn had some family in town, so her, gary, and the rest of her gang came over and we did the bbq and herbal thing all day, and ended up again, late night, on the couch. passing out to a movie - all in all, a great weekend, and a great week of house sitting . . well, off to pack and head back to my humble, bbq-less abode.

mmmmm....hangover

well, the weekend has started off with a bang, and i think i am already done with my partying - i really am starting to lose that true grit in my old age of 27. . .

ended up going from just having my friends gary and jenn over to watch the game and bbq last night (giants won by the way!!) to having my roommate come by with his friend joe from new orleans, and then out of the blue my friend willo stopped by - we all managed to be three sheets to the wind at that point - suddenly it was almost 1am, everyone left, i attempted to watch 'about a boy' (which i have actually seen sober and is quite good), and promptly passed out. here i am bright and early on saturday, detrmined not to let my hangover ruin my saturday - let's see what happens. . .

by the by, i finally get my new phone from sprint pcs via ups, i open it up to find a new phone that is a big upgrade from my last phone, but the idiots didn't send me a new charger!!! i mean seriously, what kind of shit is that??? are companies really that stupid and cheap - i know, i know - we all know the answer to that. so hail sprint pcs, one of the few companies succesful in spite of themselves. . .

i would rant more but i need to go enjoy the day. . .

there goes the sun

another beautiful day in the city - we were looking forward to a mini-heat wave that never came, but i guess i really can't complain to much about 65 degrees and sunny.

so today was th big day when my replacement phone was to arrive - i slept in a bit - until 9:05 am to find out the ups guy had come at 9:02 am and i hadn't heard the bell - the day actually turned out pretty well after that - i was very sure after the miss this morning that it was going to be a crap day, but was presently surprised. the highlight being my boss treating me to some tickets for a giants game - can't complain about that.

also, i'm almost done putting all the pictures from the 4th up - i have a few of them up, but they are a bit big in the file size department, so i need to fiddle aorund before i get them all squared away - if you want to check out the ones i have up, you can go here and check them out - i'm hoping to it all worked out the rest of the pictures up soon. enjoy!!

not the angry itch

got a chance last night to watch 'hedwig and the angry itch' on dvd - for thos eof you who haven't seen it - you should - it was great. it's playing in san francisco on stage and now i think i have to go see it. i've got it for a few more days in dvd - if anyone is interested in checking it out, let me know.

the rumor is that hot weather is on the way - couldn't have asked for a better time to house sit, and enjoy the patio, view, bqq, hot tub, etc. - my friends gary, jenn, and lauren came through last night to enjoy the house and sample some good bbq (if i do say so myself!!) and more bbq's are planned for the rest of the week, culminating in a bit of a shindig on friday - evites to follow to the lucky few who make the guest list. . .

a little reminder - this saturday night is the second installment of midnight mass at the bridge theater - this weeks movie is 'pink flamingos,' one of the greatest and trashiest movies of all time, and they will of course be having a 'filthiest person in sf' contest before the show. last weeks opening night featuring 'showgirls' was sold out by thursday, so you might want to think about getting tickets now if you are interested - if not, there's always next week. . .

sprint pcs phone watch: this is day four and still no phone from sprint. . . one more day until i call make some poor customer service rep cry . . .

the wonders of the modern age

i must say that at this point, if i had one thing to chose to help keep my sanity for the rest of my life, i would chose the hot tub - god bless those greeks and romans for making it so popular to soak back in the good ole' days. i've been housesitting for the parents while they island hop in hawaii, and my nightly ritual has begun to include a 40 mnute soak in the hot tub - it helps that this one has a panoramic view of the city - and it has been the best part of my day. i keep telling people to come up and soak in the tub - i've had a few takers, and a few who have scoffed at the idea, but they don't know what they are missing. so for all you who live in the bay area and have my number, and want to come for a soak, you be invited.

on another note, i happened to catch last summers mega hit, 'XXX,' with the ever popular vin diesel, and i must say it was crap - loads ans loads of crap. usually i can go into these types of movie knowing they are crap and just zone out and enjoy the action and campiness of it all, but this movie really was awful - maybe i'm getting to enjoy stupid movies - i hope that's not true, and this movie was really just incredibly bad.

sprintpcs phone watch: it has been three days and still no new phone from sprint. . . hmmm

damn those bastards!!!

so saturday i was pretty pissed off at the sprint pcs folks, and planned on coming back and ranting some more today, but after a long soak in the hot tub overlooking the bay last night (fyi - parents out of town, you wanna come bbq and relax in the tub, you know where to find me), all seems to be well with the world again. i get to enjoy these little luxuries for the next week and a half, and i fully intend to.

got a chance last night to hang out with one of my best friends, gary, yesterday, who had been galavanting around europe for a month and a half or so - he and his girldfriend jenn came by my place first and i got to hear all about europe - gary got me this huge banner type thing with the portuguese national seal on it (for those fo you who didn't know, i'm half portuguese) which was pretty cool, although i have absolutely no idea what to do with it - any suggestions, e-mail me.

gary and jenn later came by the parents abode in the evening and we bbq'ed and told lies all night - add that to the late night soak in the hot tub, and it was a great holiday weekend. for those of you who care, i've got all the pics from the 4th of july party, and will post them in the next few days. also planning to do a bit of a facelift on this blog - stay tuned.

Where did the truck go?

you know, the one that hit me!! the 4th of july party was fantastic - had quite a few folks over for great bbq, plenty of booze, and of course, our green friend made an appearance. took some great pictures that i'll post as soon as i get a chance. 'old bill' was the life of the party - if you know him, you know why, if not, it's someone you'll just have to meet sometime.

the fog held off for the fireworks show, which was incredible, and then a few of us (nick, kathryn, lauren, jenn, jb, and 'old bill') headed out to the savoy tivoli for drinks i did not need to have, then it was off to gino and carlos, and then a long stumble through north beach for a ride home. this morning came to quick and to painfully for my tastes.

tomorrow i set up shop at the parents house for a few weeks - they went to hawaii and i get the house - not a bad deal. . .

i was planning on ranting about sprint pcs a bit, because they are a shit company who does everything ass-backwards, but i'm to stoned and to tired to get into it - maybe tomorrow.

ready for the show

happy 4th everyone!!! even though i live in a fairly liberal city (san francisco) and am fairly liberal myself, something about the 4th of july makes me want to shoot stuff, drink beer, and bash all the damn commies - oh well, i'll have to settle for a bbq and fireworks instead. . .

getting ready to take off and host a bbq at my parents house, who have an incredible view of the sf bay and are in a prime place for fireworks watching - free tequila shots after 6pm and a nice hot tub - things should get interesting. . . i hope...

well, before i head out, i have a confession to make and must give credit where credit is due (especially because of the impending legal action). the term 'nobhillbilly' was originally thought of by my good buddy uncle gene who thought of the idea as an email address, as he used to be a nob hill resident and is now residing in westport, kentucky. he has agreed to liscense the name to me - what a pal!!

enjoy the 4th everyone - i promise to post some pictures of the festivities in the comings days.

later days!

birthday's galore

last night was step-dad's 59th birthday - happy birthday to him. went out with the family for an incredible dinner at a place called 'aux delices' which is this groovy french vientnamise place. i've been trying to drag the parents there since they returned to san francisco, finally did, and they were not dissapointed.

it's been the season of birthdays, sister, cousin, and friends. it all goes back the to end of the summers - people getting out all the sex they can while the weather is still nice - good for them. . .

thinking of going to check out the movie 'spellbound' tonight - my friend willo saw it and said it was awesome - i love watching those little spelling bee kids on espn every year - makes me realize what a wasted youth i had. . .